Phenom Slafkovsky helps Slovakia beat Sweden, capture first Olympic hockey medal

Feb. 19 (UPI) -- Slovakian 17-year-old phenom Juraj Slafkovsky scored twice to power a 4-0 win over Sweden in the men's hockey bronze medal game Saturday in Beijing. The win brought Slovakia its first Olympic medal in the sport.

Slafkovsky scored a tournament-best seven goals in Beijing. He is a projected Top 10 pick in the 2022 NHL Draft.

"It's pretty amazing for a young boy," Slovakia coach Craig Ramsay told NBC. "We believed in him. We've given him a chance now for a couple of years.

"All we thought going into this tournament was, 'Could he just score a goal?' He'd had trouble scoring and was stuck, but he did it. He did it in spades!"

Fellow forwards Pavol Regenda and Samuel Takac also scored for Slovakia. Regenda also registered an assist.

Slovakia fired 43 shots on Sweden goaltender Lars Johansson. Slovakia goaltender Patrik Rybar saved 28 shots for his clean sheet.

Neither team scored through the first 20 minutes at the National Indoor Stadium in Beijing. Slafkovsky the lit the lamp just 3:17 into the second period off an assist from defenseman Peter Ceresnak.

Ceresnak tapped to Slafkovsky to spark a breakaway for the initial score. Slafkovsky outskated several defenders and raced past the blue line from right to left. He then skated along the left boards, ripped a long shot from behind the circle and sent the puck between the pipes past Johansson.

Slovakia doubled its lead less than 10 minutes later, when Regenda assisted Takac in the final seconds of a power play. Regenda recovered the loose puck after a face off to spark that score. He then sent a pass to Takac, who hovered near the left circle.

Takac smacked a tough-angle, one-timer at the near post through a small gap on Johansson's stick side. Slovakia carried the 2-0 lead into the third period.

Slafkovsky added a third score with 1:34 remaining off an assist from Peter Cehlarik. Cehlarik sent a feed up the middle while Sweden had an empty net during that play. Slafkovsky skated ahead and recovered the puck and finished with a backhanded rip for his seventh score of the tournament.

Regenda scored the final goal just 20 seconds later when he stole the puck from Sweden and skated in for another empty-net score.

"Just come with us to Slovakia and let's see what is happening right now," Slovakia forward Kristian Pospisil told NBC. "Go watch and you will know what it means right away for everybody, not just for hockey people."

"This is for the whole people. It's history."

Finland, which beat Slovakia 2-0 in the semifinals, battles the Russians in the men's gold medal game at 11:10 p.m. EST Saturday on USA. The Russians, who won the 2018 Winter Games gold medal game, beat Sweden 2-1 in the semifinals in Beijing.